Originally published in Verbicide issue #9

What are the odds that Denver Dalley has found breakout success? Pretty damn good, considering that everyone from CMJ to Billboard is talking about his band Statistics after the release of an addictive EP. With the summer tour season approaching, Dalley recruited indie-rock veterans Timothy Nobles and Derry DeLamar, and the three-piece has started its fine-tuning for their summer tour.

This tour means a lot to everyone involved, including Jade Tree, who have made it clear that they want a lot of people to hear this band. Catching a band just as they are getting ready for tour is very exciting as well, considering everyone is running a gamut of emotions from anticipation to anxiety. Even local Nashvillian staples of the music community are eager for the success of Statistics. As the proprietor of Nashville’s Slowbar, Mike Grimes introduced them for their first public show, his usual composition was replaced with near stuttering humbleness. By that Friday at the End (their third show) there was a who’s who of Nashville’s indie-rock scene, as the normally scattered crowd was standing shoulder to shoulder.

More importantly is the band itself, and their feelings towards those first three shows and how they are feeling going into the tour, their reception by the music industry, recording the eventual full-length album, and the impact on Nobles’ and DeLamar’s family lives. These gentlemen certainly have a lot to think about as they coordinate their last-minute details.

The first part of this interview takes place during a seven-minute drive with Dalley and Nobles after the first show at the Slowbar. The second part takes place after a Sunday cookout at the Casa de Nobles’ with all three members in attendance.

Just when all the kiddies were forgetting their schoolwork, leaving all of their cares behind, along comes an unplanned summer session of Statistics.

Well, great show this evening. First off you got props from Grimey [Mike Grimes, proprietor of the Slowbar] tonight. That is something pretty rare in this town.
Denver: Yeah, I was definitely surprised. That is quite a compliment. He acted like we were doing him a favor. It’s scary because this was our first show.

So you had the first show tonight, and then—
Denver: Athens, Georgia tomorrow. We’re playing Athens with Jets To Brazil and John Vanderslice. That’s kind of an outrageous second show.
Timothy: Meanwhile, we had to play this show to get some playing time in.
Denver: And it’ll sharpen us up for Friday’s show.

So, it’s just today, tomorrow, and Friday?
Timothy: Yeah, I have to get back for Northern Lights rehearsal. I’m pulling double duty on Friday.

I thought about that. I didn’t know if you were still playing bass for them since you guys are pulling out for the summer.
Denver: He [Timothy] is the underpaid overachiever: working, married, he’s got two bands.

And it’s the EP release on Friday?
Timothy: We were kind of doing a pre-release party thing. It’ll come out on June 17th.

So, the rumor going around is that Jade Tree is going to be pushing you pretty heavily.
Denver: I think we’re all equally excited about it. I have no idea what to expect. We’re going to go on a little tour in July. Then we end up in the studio in August and record the full-length and have these guys play on it as well. Make it more of a band effort.

You have a show in Kansas City next weekend. How did that gig come around? Is that where the tour is starting?
Timothy: We’re actually starting the tour here in Nashville on July 17th. That’s the official start.
Denver: We’ve got a little more of an official release up in Omaha. It’s a double release show with my friend Steve Peterson who played in Cursive and the White Octave. He’s releasing a project on Initial Records, so we wanted to do that. I noticed Onelinedrawing is playing in Kansas City the night before that and we thought we’d just break up the drive and hit that on the way up. Then after that I’m going to stay in Omaha for a couple weeks and work on the new album with my other band. I’ll come back and then we’ll go on tour in July. It’s all about staying busy.

So, your other band, Desaparecidos—
Timothy: “Desa” for short. That’s the hip way to say it.

So, regarding your other band, are you hoping any of that fan base carries over to this?
Denver: I definitely want people who enjoy my other band to know that I’ve got this going on. I’m not by any means trying to ride the, you know, “I’m in this other band so you should by this CD” thing. It’s out there if you want it. That was some of the motivation for [signing with] Jade Tree. Jade Tree and Saddle Creek are my two favorite labels. Some of the motivation was to separate the two projects.

How did this project happen?
Denver: I had a lot of down time from Desa. Conor, the singer, has got another band, Bright Eyes, that’s been touring and doing really well lately. So while he was out doing that I noticed I had all this down time and I wanted to keep working on music and writing, and I didn’t want to wait on everyone else’s schedule. I just decided to do this and recorded the EP. Then I came down here and I was fortunate enough to hook up with Derry and Timothy.

I know Timothy’s been out of the house a lot with all the rehearsal time. How much time did you spend working together?
Timothy: I don’t live there anymore.

From what I hear [from your wife] you live in the shed.
Timothy: Well, for me, I’m splitting it up between two bands.

How’d the show go tonight, and how do you feel going into tomorrow and Friday?
Timothy: I thought tonight’s show was good. There was definitely some slop involved. All in all, I thought it was pretty good.
Denver: I got what I wanted. I know how first shows go, so I was happy with the turnout. Personally, my performance energy-wise could have been better. I thought it was good; not upset about it or anything. I thought it was a solid first show.

So it was just a good launching point for tomorrow and Friday nights?
Timothy: Yeah, it was just that. The whole purpose for this show being booked was to iron out the kinks, and hear it on the stage, in a club with people. Everything sounds like a million dollars in the rehearsal room. It was kind of odd tonight because we didn’t get to use our own bass rig and our own drum kit.

The interview begins its second part in the living room at Timothy Nobles’ house. Drummer, Derry DeLamar is in attendance for this interview. It is the Sunday after their third show, and everyone is loosening their belts after our hosts’ culinary command of a charcoal grill. The mood is very relaxed as the Autolux EP plays in the background.

We’re here at the “Casa de Nobles,” or Timothy’s house.
Timothy: Should I mention what street I live on?
Denver: Timothy lives here…by himself. We are all bachelors.

So, onto business I’m here with Denver Dalley, Derry DeLamar, and Timothy Nobles. They are Statistics. We talked a little about the Tuesday show after the show, which was kind of fun.
Timothy: Yes, you rode in the van with us.
Denver: The five-minute ride home with the “drunk” driver.

That’s because you were driving all the drunks. [Denver doesn’t drink alcohol]
Denver: No, it’s because I couldn’t make up my mind where to turn and I started swerving.

So, after Tuesday at the Slowbar you went down to Athens, Georgia. How did that go for you?
Denver: It was good. It’s Athens in the summertime, college town. We were opening for Jets to Brazil.
Timothy: Who were absolutely amazing!
Denver: I don’t think anyone was really expecting us. I thought we played alright, and some people went away talking about it. It was a good second show. It was outrageous that we were playing with Jets to Brazil and John Vanderslice.
Timothy: At the 40 Watt, which is a highly revered club. No matter where you go, you know what somebody’s talking about when they say “the 40 Watt.” Besides, Interpol played there three weeks before we did.
Derry: All this week was a big learning experience for all of us. We played three totally different venues, different sound levels, different crowd levels.

How was the crowd in Athens?
Timothy: Fifty-plus…I mean, it was fair. It’s a big room though. I think capacity there is about 750.
Denver: They were filing in while we were playing. It was cool because they didn’t just sit there the whole time.
Timothy: No they didn’t, they came up front, which was awesome. I looked down and the front of the stage was lined with people.

The show at the End was pretty big. Everybody who is anybody in the local scene was there. How’d you guys feel about that reception?
Derry: That was an awesome show! It felt good for us to play there for those people.
Timothy: The one thing I take the most pride on for that show was how diverse it was yet how good it was, all in all. It was three distinctly different bands that complimented each other really well. And everything was dead on.
Denver: It was our first real show. The Slowbar show, I really didn’t tell anyone.
Timothy: I know I didn’t mention that show to more than 15 people, and I encouraged them to come to the show on Friday.
Denver: I just told my friends who were going to be out of town on Friday.
Timothy: The Slowbar was a pretty fair turnout. I felt really bad for the band that played after us, Helicopter Helicopter. By their second song there was a marked difference in the crowd. That had more to do with it being a work night. I thought they were a good band, I just felt bad so many people cleared out while they were playing.

So how do you feel going into next week, with Omaha and Kansas City?
Timothy: Yeah, for that double release thing, and of course Omaha being the home of Saddle Creek — Denver’s other label. The jerk’s one of the few people on the planet that’s getting two record deals.

So the really big question, Denver; I have to ask about [a certain local spokesmodel].
Denver: If you are out there my cell number is…

Denver, you have Desaparecidos and Tim, you were in—
Denver: I am the only single one in the band. [She] might want to take note of that…I’m looking at her eyes. That’s all I ever see when I look at women. I believe they’re the gateway to the soul.

This is for Verbicide, not Tiger Beat.
Denver: I’m just talking to [her]. Interview or not, put this to her voice mail.

(There’s also a whole wedding fantasy that followed, but it’s a little off topic.)

Timothy, you were in Self. Derry, I forgot what you were in.
Derry: Yeah, I want to never mention that. Not for media’s sake, because I don’t care. I don’t want the bad vibe from that to roll over into this.

Well, you’ve all got names and you’re all established. You’re not a bunch of wide-eyed kids going into this.
Denver: Nah, we’re all pissed and bitter.
Timothy: That’s why we went ahead with Jade Tree, because we’re all jaded.
Denver: We put the “jaded” in Jade Tree. They can understand how pissed we are.
Derry: We’ve been ignored for so long.
Denver: We’ve all been playing music, but it’s a new venture and we’re all still really excited. Just this week we’ve been learning about our dynamic.
Derry: This past week was a big learning experience. To end up on the End show, it was amazing and we were all happy about it. For me it’s exciting to go on this tour coming up in July, and play 24 shows in 30 days. You really get into it. And then go in the studio and record.
Timothy: At the end of the tour we’re stopping off to record the full-length.

Are you recording that in town?
Timothy: No, up in Presto Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Denver: That’s where I did the EP.
Timothy: It’s a pretty hot studio at the moment.

Who’s going to be doing the actual recording of the full-length?
Denver: AJ Mogis. I worked with Mike Mogis on the EP, and AJ is his brother.

All three of you are going to be in the studio for the full-length, because I think it’s just Denver on the EP. What can we look forward to on the full-length?
Denver: All new material. We’re playing four songs on the EP and four songs that aren’t. It will be with those four and between now and then we’ll probably come up with a couple more.

And going off with no rhyme or reason, Tim, you were pulling double-duty at the End the other night playing in two bands. How was that for you?
Timothy: Denver and I were running around doing some errands, and said something like, “I’m really glad you played in the Northern Lights, but I kind of wish you didn’t so we could do more shows with them.” For me, I’m thinking, Who the hell did I fool to be able to actually play two sets in one night? Both bands are really cool, but I just love playing and that’s the reason I do it. Physically, it’s not taxing at all. Everybody in the bands are my friends, and I love both sets of music.

We’ve got two married guys; Derry, you have a kid. How hard is touring going to be now that you have family lives?
Derry: It’s going to be [hard] for me because I’m going to miss my child. He’s at the age where it’s leaps and bounds every day. Missing a month from him is like missing a 20-year-old for two years. My dad left me for a while but he came back and everything is cool. It’s great. My dad’s my favorite person. I don’t think anything like me being gone is going to scar him. I’m not too worried about it, but I am going to miss him. I’m going to miss my wife, too.
Timothy: I think my wife is actually jealous that she’s not going on tour, too.

Kind of sounds like she may be taking your place in the Northern Lights.
Timothy: She’s working on it. She’s going to replace me if I’m not careful. No, she’s 100 percent supportive. It’s weird because…we spend literally every day together with the exception of some small tours here and there. It’s going to be weird, just thinking about not seeing her for a month.
Derry: I think our wives are really into what we’re doing musically, so it’s okay with them. My wife loves Denver and she loves Timothy, so she’s like, “Go ahead, go do it. It’s cool.” Initially [she thought] the music is cool.
Timothy: It would be very easy for them to have a different perspective. We could be making music with some deadbeats. Fortunately we’re all good friends and we all try to be decent people.
Denver: I have my two other bands. I’ll try not to settle down until I’m more established.
Derry: If Denver gets married before he’s 30, Timothy and I are going to kick his ass. I’ve got some expectations to fill. For me, you owe it to me!

Derry, we talked about rehearsal time the other night when you had already left. I know there was a lot of time in the practice shed. How did you cope with all of that?
Derry: Oh, it was great. I love to rehearse.
Timothy: You talk about this week, and before that we’d logged a lot of hours in the shed. We’re all competent musicians so it came together real quick. Then it was just an issue of repetition. Everything got to that point where it just needed to be worked out at a few shows. This week was that. The show at the Slowbar…wasn’t a particularly good performance. The show in Athens had a lot of fudge, but it was still an okay show. [By Friday] we had learned from the other two shows and we kind of knew what to expect out of each other.

How did you deal with the first show with the new band?
Derry: The first two shows were nerve-wracking for me. After we started playing the very first show, it was cool because I knew we were doing okay. The 40-Watt show was a different story. The 40-Watt is big and has an elaborate sound system. It was too much. Do we need all this? They’re not our guys, they don’t know what we sound like, and they don’t know what we’re running. I thought we had a lot of problems on stage with hearing things. But then the End show came up, and it just sounded good. That’s the main thing. If you sound good on stage…then you can look at your guys on stage and say ‘Wow we sound good!’
Denver: Where my mind was with the first two shows, I was trying to make sure everything came across live. I was trying to hear everything and make sure we could hear each other. Then I figured how everything sounds in a big room, and by the End it was more just having fun playing and less trying make sure all the bases are covered.
Timothy: We all have very high expectations. We all know what we are capable of as a group. By those standards the first two shows weren’t all that great. By the standards if we haven’t been rehearsing, these are more than shows. We’re figuring it all out so they were amazing.

So these were just warm up shows?
Timothy: The Slowbar in particular and the guys in Jets to Brazil were cool enough to put us on the show. They weren’t embarrassed that we showed up.
Denver: They were happy with us performing. They seemed like they were genuinely satisfied with the show. At the last minute they threw us on the bill.
Derry: We put in good time and worked, but at the same time it did go really fast. Considering the first night we played through an entire song for the first time. I had played in other projects…but I wasn’t into the music so I didn’t care. With this stuff, I had listened to the EP, which was already done, and I was so into it. It’s all I listened to so I had to know it.

Is that how you [Timothy] got into it?
Timothy: Well, I turned him [Derry] onto it. Denver shows up one day and says, “This is my new EP. Tell me what you think.” I was floored that he considered enough of my opinion to bring me a four-month advance of his EP. Working at the record store, tons of kids [asking what I think] and nine times out of 10 they suck. I knew his stuff with Desa, and I really liked them a lot. He dropped that off a long time before the record came out. I put it [the Statistics EP] on the headset and I made it through about 45 seconds of the first song and I put it on the overhead. I played it for a week straight at the store. I took it to him [Derry] almost the second I got it. We were arguing over a copy for a couple of days.

Denver, did you want to recruit these guys from the beginning?
Denver: I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted to hear what Timothy thought and see if it was even a possibility. I was already working on backup plans. I have some friends in Omaha that could have been a temporary thing for a tour. Then when I sat down and talked to these guys and could see how genuinely excited they were there was no question in my mind. That’s why I’m really excited about recording a full-length because then it will become more ours than just an EP I did.

Desa has a lot of political/social commentary. I don’t hear that in this project.
Denver: No, I didn’t want to do something that was covering the same ground. I wanted to try something different, not just rehash.
Derry: If this band were political, I wouldn’t be in it. I would run.

With Denver being known for doing that [kind of commentary] how do you two [Derry and Timothy] feel?
Timothy: The project speaks for itself. I don’t pay attention to those kind of things. [Desa] has got some pretty good statements, but it’s not off the wall.
Denver: The two different projects are night and day. I agree with a lot of what he says, but those are his lyrics. I don’t believe in cussing in any song because I don’t think it’s necessary. For other bands, I’m sure it is. It can limit you in a lot of ways. I want to speak to everyone. I don’t want some 12-year-old to say, “Mom, I really want this CD,” and mom says, “Well, it’s got an advisory sticker on it.”

Do you think anyone is expecting those types of views with this music? Will some fans jump on this bandwagon because a guy from Desa is doing this?
Denver: Honestly that was my motivation for pursuing another label because I was trying to distance the two projects. If people like what I did with Desa and they’re curious about something else then of course that’s great. I think that was part of Jade Tree’s thinking in putting the sticker [“Statistics is Denver Dalley of Desaparecidos”] on the EP for reference.
Timothy: What’s really cool about all this is the indie-label community, such as the Saddle Creeks the Jade Trees. It’s a lot more about community than it is about major label, where the name association makes all the difference in the world. This is one of those things that kids are more impressed by it because it’s on Jade Tree versus the fact Denver is in Desaparecidos. With Dischord records, Fugazi had the same kind of reputation. A lot of kids used to buy things strictly because it was on Dischord. I’ve bought a lot of records on Jetset simply because they are on Jetset. A very exciting point of it is that it is Jade Tree and the sense of community that goes along with that.